Sixties-heroes theme for Autumn Classic

Many engineers in manufacturing are ‘petrol heads’ and might be interested in this year’s Castle Combe Autumn Classic (Saturday 5 October), at which ‘Heroes of the 1960s’ will take centre stage.

The early details of this event include a celebration of 50 years of Formula Ford at the Wiltshire track, an all-Alfa Romeo race and displays to mark 50 years of Marcos vehicle production.

First run in 2012, the Autumn Classicis now firmly established in the classic racing calendar and consistently delivers “glorious racing” by grids full of cars from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

The 2019 edition will celebrate a golden decade for British motor racing, with Graham Hill, Jim Clark, John Surtees and Jackie Stewart all World Champions as Lotus and BRM took on Ferrari.

The 1960s was also the decade of Special Saloons, Modified Sports, Clubmans and Formula Ford (in 1969 the Castle Combe Formula Ford Championship was created as the first circuit-based championship in British motor racing).

It was in 1959 that the late Jem Marsh built the first Marcos sports car, and the Autumn Classic will honour the 60th anniversary of one of Britain’s most successful specialist car manufacturers.

The company was based in Bradford-on-Avon and then Westbury, and it produced race-winning cars and striking road cars for nearly half a century. With the support of the Marsh family, a huge gathering of Marcos cars will be a prime feature of the event.